Film

Relic

Name: Relic
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Released: 2020
Cast: Emily Mortimer, Bella Heathcote, Robyn Nevin, Chris Bunton, Steve Rodgers

Relic is a slow, dread-thick Australian horror where a decaying family home becomes a body for grief and dementia to inhabit. Emily Mortimer and Bella Heathcote play mother and daughter circling elderly Edna's failing mind, and the film trades jump scares for accumulating unease. It's for people who want their horror to ache rather than startle — patient, sad, and quietly devastating.

TMDb rating

6.1

If you liked this

Hereditary2018

If Relic's dread-soaked family house appealed, this goes further into grief curdling into something monstrous, with a lead performance from Toni Collette that's genuinely unforgettable and terrifying.

But It's louder, gorier, and less restrained than Relic — full-blown nightmare rather than slow ache.

The Babadook2014

Another Australian film using horror to process grief and impossible caregiving, this time a single mother unraveling under the weight of loss and a monster that won't leave.

But More overtly a monster movie — if you wanted Relic's ambiguity, this commits harder to its creature.

The Taking of Deborah Logan2014no page yet

The closest match tonally — a documentary crew captures an elderly woman's dementia curdling into something else entirely, mirroring Relic's fear of watching someone become unrecognisable.

But Found-footage horror with jump scares Relic mostly avoids; the style might feel cheaper by comparison.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Away from Her2007

Strips away Relic's haunted-house metaphor to show the same fear — losing someone to their own mind — as unflinching realism instead.

The rawest possible companion — a devastating, non-supernatural drama about a wife's decline into dementia and the husband forced to watch her forget him.

But No genre trappings at all — pure grief drama, which may be too close to the bone for some.

Talk to Me2023

A newer Australian horror with the same commitment to dread over spectacle, plus a similarly unnerving sense that something ordinary has quietly gone very wrong.

But Younger cast, faster pace, more visceral scares — a different energy than Relic's slow domestic unease.

A Ghost Story2017

Barely horror at all, but shares Relic's interest in houses as containers for grief and time, told with the same patient, meditative stillness.

But Almost no plot and long stretches of silence — some will find it beautiful, others unbearably slow.

The Others2001

A classic haunted-house mystery with the same fog of dread and a house that seems to be hiding something about its inhabitants' minds.

But More conventional twist-driven horror than Relic's ambiguous, metaphor-heavy approach.

It Comes at Night2017

Shares Relic's suffocating pace and refusal to explain itself, building dread purely from family tension and an unseen threat closing in.

But Almost punishingly slow with little payoff — frustrating if you want answers by the end.

Lake Mungo2009

An underseen Australian mockumentary-horror about grief and secrets in a family, told with the same eerie patience and dread Relic favours.

But Its documentary style and slow reveal will test viewers wanting more traditional horror beats.

The Invitation2016

A dinner party curdles into something sinister at a creeping pace, another lesson in dread built from what's not being said rather than shown.

But Its slow burn pays off differently — more thriller than horror, with less of Relic's ache.

Dick Johnson Is Dead2020

Where Relic uses horror to process a parent's decline, this uses documentary and dark comedy — same fear, wildly different toolkit.

A documentary where a filmmaker stages her father's death in advance as his memory fails, turning grief into strange, tender, darkly funny performance.

But Its playful staging and real footage blur uncomfortably — some will find the humour jarring against the sadness.

The Fly1986

Both are really about watching someone you love become unrecognisable; Relic does it with dementia and shadows, this does it with flesh and science.

Cronenberg's body-horror classic turns a loved one's slow, irreversible transformation into something monstrous and tragic — decay made grotesquely, unforgettably physical.

But It's gooier and more explicit than Relic by a wide margin — practical effects horror, not domestic dread.